Lost but Not Forgotten
by nikki-of-stormhold
Summary: Every family has its secrets especially the Crofts.Lara is not as alone as she thinks.....


**Lost but Not Forgotten**

Reader, never underestimate the meaning of your family. Like so many things, we take them for granted, often not really realizing what they mean to us until they are gone. My family was gone before I even had a chance to know them.

I remember now how I felt as I ascended the steps to the renowned Croft Manor. Such a big, impressive place, daunting to someone who had grown up in the Himalayan mountain region. I looked at the doorframe for a long time before I could ring the bell, and when I eventually did part of me wished I had not. Several minutes passed before it was answered, and I didn't recognize the person before me.

"Hello, can I help you?" was his question. He looked young, and kind of nerdy.

"I… I need to see Lady Croft."

"And whom shall I say is asking for her?"

I hadn't anticipated that. Who was asking? I wasn't sure I even knew that myself.

"She won't know me I'm afraid, but I have some…important news for her."

He nodded, ushered me in and closed the door. Going off to fetch her he left me alone in the huge entrance hall. I looked around. It may have been impressive but that place was cold. The ornaments were stony, the floor shiny and slippery looking, and the paintings seemed to glare at me. Avoiding their gaze I looked to the staircase- a magnificent staircase leading to the rest of the manor. I was so busy with this that I did not notice her approach.

"Hello? My assistant tells me you've some news for me?" I heard her voice behind me but it was a minute or two before I could turn to look at her. What would she look like now? Such a long time had passed. The last time I had seen her she was just a baby, and to me all babies look the same. The first thing I noticed was her beauty. She was pretty, with long black hair that she had swept back into a braid. Her face was wonderfully formed, but strikingly sad. I wonder how many people noticed that about her? She was thin and athletically formed, and stood casually with her arms folded.

"Lady Croft?" I said quietly.

"Yes. And you are?"

I swallowed.

"Can we go somewhere private to talk? I'm afraid that what I have to say may shock you a little."

She looked at me a closely, weighing me up.

"Follow me," she said sharply. I did so and we retreated into a room at the back of the house. She stood by the door and gestured for me to sit down at her desk, which I did. She closed the door and strode slowly to the other side of the desk.

"So what is this all about?" she asked, sitting down opposite me.

Where to start? The deep end, I thought. No point in delaying it.

"Lady Croft, do you recognize me?"

Her eyes narrowed and she shook her head.

"Should I?"

I smiled sadly.

"No. You were only a baby when I last saw you."

"Who are you exactly? And what is this news?"

I took a deep breath.

"My name is Isa. Isa Croft. I'm your sister."

There was a long pause. She leant back in her chair and gazed at me, her expression difficult to judge.

"And I'm supposed to believe you? Why?"

"Not supposed to, I know it sounds ludicrous. I suppose mamma and daddy never told you about me."

She shook her head.

"They certainly did not, and I don't believe you. In fact I think you are wasting my time. If you'll excuse me." She got up and was about to leave when the door opened. A smartly dressed Butler walked in and looked at Lara first, then me. I recognized him immediately, as he did me.

"Isa! Little Isa!" he strode forwards and I stood up. He took me hands and looked me up and down.

"Look at you, all grown up!"

I laughed.

"Winston, you're still here!"

I hugged him, surprised at the feeling it gave me. This had been my home, and Winston my friend as a youngster. He had been my father's butler then and it appeared he had kept the job on after his disappearance.

"Oh Winston, I don't remember much of my past here, but I remember you so well!"

"Like wise Lady Isa, I'm afraid my memory isn't what it was but I could never forget that little face of yours, staring up at me in the kitchen!"

All through this, Lara had turned pale and leaned against the door frame. Winston turned to her and studied her face.

"Lara? Forgive me, I didn't see you there."  
She looked up.

"You knew about this, Winston? Who is she? Is she my sister?"

He nodded, a sad expression creeping across his face.

"I'm sorry Lara, it's so complicated. Your father always trusted me closely; who would I be to betray him when he was gone?"

The butler looked uncomfortable. Lara strode to her desk and took a frame from inside the drawer. She thrust it into his hands and glared at me.

"Look at her! Look at them! They're not the same! She is no relation of mine! My parents would not have kept this from me!"

Winston handed the frame to me and I looked at the picture. It was like a boot in the face. The picture showed Lord and Lady Richard Croft, both cradling a baby Lara.

"Look at them and tell me that you belong to them." Lara's look was challenging, but there was an unmistakable distress with it. I said nothing, and handed the frame back to her. She snatched it from me and slammed it down on the desk, the glass on the front smashing. The Butler winced and stepped back.

"Lara please!"

"No. I want you out of my house. This is no joke. If you knew what had happened to my family….."

I dug deep in my pocked and produced a scrap of paper. It was worn and torn form years of treasury and longing. I unfolded it and held it out to her. It was a photograph of Lady Angelina and Lord Richard Croft, in the Himalayas. Angelina, my mother, was cradling Lara in her arms- she was only a few months old. And there I was, standing at their side, holding my father's hand. We were all beaming, except Lara, who was looking goggle eyed as babies do at that age. Lara looked at the picture, her face changing.

"I was five. You were mere months old. Mamma used to let me hold you if I was good, and sometimes I was allowed to give you your bottle. You always fell asleep on me, and cried if I left you."

Lara closed her eyes and leaned against her desk.

"Daddy said we were ever so lucky to be in the mountains, and to see all the special artifacts before anyone else. He said we were even luckier to have such a little diamond as my baby sister."

"Isa…" Winston stepped forwards again but I had to finish- she had to know.

"A few days after that picture was taken, you and mummy disappeared. Daddy and I were in our tent that night, and he said I was to pack all my things in my rucksack. I did, and we ran away. He wouldn't tell me where we wee going, and he clung to my hand so tightly that it frightened me. I don't remember anything after that, its all blank. But when I woke up all I had were the clothes I was wearing, and that photograph."

There was a short pause. Winston politely took his leave and closed the study door after him. Lara remained silent.

"Lara, I don't know what happened, and no-one has ever given me an answer- I've had to make do with the one on the back of that picture."

She turned the photo over in her hands and read silently. I said it aloud.

"0405, Lost but not forgotten."

She spoke for the first time during my outburst.

"What does it mean?"

"I think it's a combination for something, but… you were four months old, and I was five years. It's from daddy. A message from him."

Lara looked up, a subtle tear in her eye.

"I know what this is."

She walked slowly to the far wall and stared up at the painting of our parents. Then she pushed it aside, revealing a safe.

"I have never been able to open this. I've had the very best locksmiths in here, builders, everything. But its fixed into the wall and I gave up trying."

She looked at the back of the photo and slowly put the numbers, 0405, into the combination lock.

It swung open.

Lara gasped and dropped the photo. She stared into the safe, and eventually retrieved from it a box and an envelope. The envelope was addressed to her, the box to me. I picked up my photo- something so precious to me I could not leave on the floor, despite an intriguing find. I put it safely in my pocket and took the box from my sister.

"Well?" She said, holding the letter to her chest.

"You're not going to open your letter?"

"Not yet."

I nodded and took the lid off of the box. Inside was a note.

_My darling Isa, if you are reading this then you have found your home, and hopefully your sister. I'm so very sorry that things turned out this way, and your mother and I love you so much. All will be explained to Lara, and to you. Your past was very different to any we imagined for you, but your future, well, my darling, it is yours. Make it what you will. This is your home, and Lara your family. You belong together, and I am only sorry that your parents are not there to share it. Forgive me my little one, I love you so much._

_Lost, but never, ever forgotten._

_Your daddy._

I read it several times. My hands shook and my heart cried. Lara watched me, her face displaying her emotion. I looked back to the box- underneath the note was a key- a large ornate looking one. I held it up and turned it over in my hands.

"That's the key to the orchard. I couldn't ever find one so I had the lock changed." Lara stared at it and I handed it to her.

"I remember sitting in there with mummy and daddy. They said it was our place, for the four of us."

There were a few other things in the box, little things that reminded me of my past, but the most significant were my father's diary extracts- documenting the last days that we had spent together, before our separation. That was his explanation. I would finally have my questions answered, and Lara would have everything explained. We looked at each other, the key and the documents scattered on the desk.

"Lara?"

I wasn't sure what to say, or what she would say.

"I thought I had no-one left."

I have heard from many that Lara Croft is an archeological genius, a world famous female hero whom is greatly admired and somewhat emotionless. It has been said that no-one could crack her hard outer shell, and see her true feelings. But reader, my sister was cracked that day. We shared a long hug, a lot of silent glances, and a mutual longing had been satisfied. We were as whole as we were going to be, after having been so incomplete for so very long. As my father had said, we had a future together, a long and wonderful future……

**Different I know, reviews much appreciated. **


End file.
